Originally Posted by: paulcavaliere

I'm now just finished Rock 1. I'm also doing your Scale series as a warmup exercise with each session. Almost done with Major Scale Patterns. Plan on Minor Scale Patterns and Pentatonic Major and Minor series as well.[/quote][p]Congrats on working though Rock 1! Glad you are working in scale exercises. Those will get you ready for 2 important aspects of soloing.

1. Playing single note lines (playing one note at a time is a much different skill set than strumming chords).

2. Getting used to the sound of scale degrees.

Originally Posted by: paulcavaliereMy goal is to play some rock songs with the solo sections . . . [/quote]

Excellent goal. This is how to build a repertoire of licks, a library of things to play when you improvise. Learn the licks you like, that inspire you, then reformulate them, to make them your own.

[quote=paulcavaliere]I had found it difficult during Rock 1 to improvise effectively. Also difficult to time it back into the song.

It takes a lot of time to get used to switching skill sets like that. Sometimes it's helpful to break it into 2 different things to focus on & practice.

1. Switching between rhythm & lead playing.

2. Learning lines to use for improvisation.

Switching between rhythm playing, which is often repetitive & easier because the student has the repertoire of chords ready to go & improvisation, which requires a repertoire of licks ready to go that the student doesn't often have yet!

The point is that these are 2 very different physical & conceptual skills. Lead playing requires very small, intricate, economical motions of playing single note lines (one note a time), quickly & efficiently. Rhythm typically uses bigger motions (strumming chords) & is much more repetitious.

Some students benefit from really focusing on switching between those 2 skill sets as an exercise in it's own right. That's what these tutorials are for.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=170

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=918

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1147

The first one starts with a pretty basic skill level, then they increase quickly. I suggest watching the performances of each to see which one matches your skill level & work with that one.

Some students pick up switching between lead & rhythm just by learning all the parts of a song. But other students need to drill it more to get used to it. So, those tutorials are meant to fill the gap when it's helpful.

[quote=paulcavaliere]I'd like to get better at improvisation and came upon this post. Was thinking of doing the series you mention here before going to Rock2. I'm worried that your series is ranked at 4 guitar difficulty. Do you suggest I go through Rock 2 or your improv series first? Maybe get more out of Rock 2 if I do improv first but may be too difficult at this stage?

It just depends on whether you have the physical skills yet to do the licks in the tutorial. I suggest looking at the performance, backing track play along lessons to see.

Again, my improv tutorials start pretty simple, easy, basic, but then increase in difficulty. So you can probably do the first couple easily. But the later ones might require more time.

Just sticking with Anders's course is a fine plan, too! It has a lot of basic licks to learn to use a building blocks for your soloing repertoire. Just know that either way (Rock course or my improv tutorials) you are aiming for the same goal: learning a vocabulary of licks to use.

That's why I also suggest my collection on blues licks. It's a great way to learn the pentatonic scales & apply it right away to vocabulary building.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/Bread-and-Butter-Butter-Blues-Licks

And that's what you do by learning the solos in songs you like. Make sense?

Hope that helps!